Playing with 50mm
- Thread starter icy55
- Start date
ask your boy friend to be your model, and play with the DOP. It will give a very nice Bokeh.
You start using it effectively when you err...mount it on your camera and use it?
Really, the more you use it, the more you will find ways to make the lens fit your style, or form your style based on that lens. The more practise you have with the lens, the more effectively you will be able to use it.
Really, the more you use it, the more you will find ways to make the lens fit your style, or form your style based on that lens. The more practise you have with the lens, the more effectively you will be able to use it.
Typical BBB infection: buying first then asking what to do with it. Take pictures, learn to use the field of view and depth of field.
is there a difference between the 50mm f1.8 & 50mm f1.8 II? the bokeh at f1.8 is a pentagon, are there any ways to improve/smoothen it?
spree86
Senior Member
That is because there are only 5 non-rounded aperture blades in the lens, that's why the blurred light points are pentagonal. Nothing much you can do with the lens itself but you can blur it further or smoothen out during PP.
If you are referring to making the pentagon circular, I don't think it's possible due to the aperture blade design
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spree86
Senior Member
Depends, most people prefer rounded blurs and not only expensive lenses have 9 blades. There's a comparison of the different 50mm lenses canon have here in terms of background blur
http://www.the-digital-picture.com/reviews/canon-ef-50mm-f-1.8-ii-lens-review.aspx
Edwin Francis
Senior Member
Dun have a Canon 50/1.8II, but wide open (at f1.8) the aperture blades are completely out of the way -- your OOF highlights should therefore be circular, not pentagonal.
And just to preempt any misunderstanding, bokeh is the quality of the OOF blur, not the amount, not the shape of the aperture blades. For a nice technical description - http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/bokeh.htm
The earlier Canon 50/1.8 had a metal mount and a focus distance window, removed in the mark II. Mark I's are rare and generally seem to fetch more on the used market. IIRC they are the same optically.
In answer to the TS' original question - the way to use the lens 'effectively' is to mount it on a camera and take photos! Whatever you like. Of course the large aperture lets you play around with shallow DOF / low-light handheld shots, if you like that sort of thing
And just to preempt any misunderstanding, bokeh is the quality of the OOF blur, not the amount, not the shape of the aperture blades. For a nice technical description - http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/bokeh.htm
The earlier Canon 50/1.8 had a metal mount and a focus distance window, removed in the mark II. Mark I's are rare and generally seem to fetch more on the used market. IIRC they are the same optically.
In answer to the TS' original question - the way to use the lens 'effectively' is to mount it on a camera and take photos! Whatever you like. Of course the large aperture lets you play around with shallow DOF / low-light handheld shots, if you like that sort of thing
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Didn't know that....I was fiddling with my friend's 50mm I think i stopped down, cos for me, f1.8 is pretty hard to use.
if you are referring to Min Focus Dist, it's 45cm from subject, so, it's not really ideal for closeup unless attached with a close up filter (e.g. Raynox or Hoya close up filters)/tube to reduce the min focus dist
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